AGUILAS HIV/AIDS Prevention Services Facing Budget Crisis That Could Cost Lives, USA

Main Category: HIV / AIDS
Also Included In: Sexual Health / STDs
Article Date: 14 Feb 2008 - 1:00 PDT

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AGUILAS, a San Francisco-based Latino gay/bisexual non-profit organization offering programs focused on HIV/AIDS awareness, prevention, education, and outreach is holding a press conference Tuesday, February 19, 2008, 11 am PST, at Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Community Center in San Francisco. The organization facing a budget crisis that will force the organization to shut down and move out of its facility by March 31, 2008 unless necessary funding is acquired. AGUILAS has only received partial grant monies from the AIDS Office of the San Francisco Department of Public Health in 2005, and 2008 grant distribution for new HIV prevention services is expected to be delayed from local, state, and federal sources until 2010. The organization is requesting that the City and County of San Francisco provide the level of funding needed to sustain its HIV prevention services as neither the city nor the county has been paying the full bill for services rendered, which is the norm for agencies such as AGUILAS. AGUILAS is one of two local organizations to receive lower funding for its program.

If AGUILAS is forced to close its doors, San Francisco will lose a powerful HIV prevention program that has effectively served a population at highest risk for HIV infection, and which is difficult to reach due to cultural norms. Program evaluation data collected over the past seven years clearly shows that AGUILAS has demonstrated a 42% to 70% reduction in high risk sexual activity among its program participants (comparing baseline data to data collected at 6-month follow up).

WHAT: The press conference will provide journalists with detailed information concerning: AGUILAS' significant role as the only, fiscally-responsible organization in the Western United States established, developed, and administered by and for Latino gay and bisexual men; the financial support needed to enable AGUILAS to provide essential HIV/AIDS-related services to Latinos, one of the HIV Prevention Planning Council's (HPPC) highest priority populations with HIV prevalence among Latino MSM (men having sex with men) ranging from 5.8% to 19%; and pertinent statistical data, including local counseling and testing data from 2001 which suggests that Latino MSM have the highest HIV incidence (3.5%) of all racial/ethnic groups (SFDPH Epidemiology Annual Report, 2001). Further, a CDC six-city study also found that HIV incidence among Latinos was 3.5% compared with 2.5% among whites.

WHO: The AGUILAS panel will feature HIV/AIDS prevention expert, Dr. Eduardo Morales, Ph.D., Executive Director of AGUILAS and Professor of the California School of Professional Psychology (CSPP) at Alliant International University, San Francisco Campus; an AGUILAS clients who will tell their personal stories about how AGUILAS saved their lives; and San Francisco Board of Supervisors Tom Ammiano and Bevan Dufty to answer questions about the issues at hand.

When/Where: Tuesday, February 19, 2008 at 11 am PST; at the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Community Center, Ceremonial Room, 1800 Market Street in San Francisco.

AGUILAS is a San Francisco-based Latino gay and bisexual non-profit organization offering programs focused on HIV/AIDS awareness, prevention, education, and outreach in a supportive and culturally sensitive environment. The services offered by the agency are consistent with the standards for services in the HIV Prevention Plan, and the agency meets all requirements of the City and County of San Francisco. It is registered with the Human Rights Commission, and has filed the required cultural competency plan. AGUILAS is the only organization in the Western part of the U.S. established, developed, and administered by and for Latino gay and bisexual men for any service delivery. AGUILAS' target population is one of the HPPC's highest priorities. AGUILAS is only one of three Latino gay/bisexual organizations in the country providing services. The other two are in Boston, Massachusetts and Austin, Texas.

Highlights to consider:

- AGUILAS is in danger of closing its doors, which means there will be a critical loss of services for Latinos, the group that has the highest incident rate of HIV among all demographic groups in the U.S.

- The key factor is the sustainability of HIV prevention services in the Latino Community.

- Cultural norms with the Latino community inhibit open discussion and disclosure of HID/AIDS-related issues. AGUILAS' represents an essential safe haven for Latinos at risk for or suffering from HIV/AIDS.

- Latino MSM in San Francisco are more strongly affected by AIDS as compared with national data.

- Available data show that the primary behavior that places Latino men at risk for HIV is unprotected sex with men. Very few research studies have focused specifically on Latino men.

- Increasing sexually transmitted disease (STD) rates among Latino men point to high-risk sex.

AGUILAS

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